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ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH

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Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2021 = 7.380, www.srjis.com PEER REVIEWED & REFEREED JOURNAL, NOV-DEC, 2021, VOL- 9/68

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH Sapna Sahu Research Scholar, Department Of Education, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Language University, Lucknow

Paper Received On: 21 DEC 2021 Peer Reviewed On: 31 DEC 2021 Published On: 1 JAN 2022

Abstract There are number of ethical principles that should be taken by undergraduate and master’s level. It has often been seen in psychological research that some time the nature of study is such that it is possible to study from a practical point of view but it is not possible to do it from a moral point of view. Moral are those ethical principle that should follow to every researcher during their research work. Research ethics provided guideline for the responsible and monitor research scholar conducting research to insure a high ethical standard. The following points are identified as ethical research are protection and welfare of participant, informed consent, use of deception, debriefing of subject, subjects right to withdrawal from the investigation, invasion from privacy in observational research and confidentialityand the anonymity of data. Not only this subject also have right that if it is mandatory to publish their data then their name should not be given in it. If the researcher does not do this then it poses an ethical problem. It is clear when psychological research done on human subject then some problem related to morality arise.In order to solution these problem, two important country (America and Britain) in the world that have made some code of ethics but still such problem arise. Such moral problems arise not only with human subject but also using animal subject and these problems are also resolved by following the same moral code. Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com

INTRODUCTION All participants in research must take part voluntarily ,free from any coercion or undue influence ,and their rights, dignity and autonomy should be respected and appropriately protected. An autonomous person is capable of deliberation about personal goals and of acting under the direction of such deliberation . To respect autonomy is to give weight to autonomous persons considered opinions and choices while refraining from obstructing their action unless they are clearly detrimental to others .By contrast, when a potential research participant may lack capacity to make autonomous decision, respect for person requires that they be protected against harm. The capacity for self –determination matures during an individual’s life, and Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies


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some individuals lose this capacity wholly or in part because of illness, mental disability, or circumstance that severely restrict liberty. Respect or the immature and the incapacitated may require protecting them as they mature or while they are incapacitated. Some persons are in need of extensive protection, even to the point of excluding them from research that has a risk of harm. KEYWORD: Principle, Research, Ethics PRINCIPLE ONE: MINIMIZE THE RISK OF HARM Dissertation research should not harm participants. Where there is the possibility that participants could be harmed or put in a position of discomfort, there must be strong justifications for this. Such scenarios will also require (a) Additional planning to illustrate how participant harm will be reduced (b) Informed consent (c) Detailed debriefing There are a number of types of harm that participants can be subjected to. These include: ▪

Physical harm to participants.

▪

Psychological distress and discomfort.

▪

Social disadvantage.

▪

Harm to participants? Financial status.

▪

An invasion of participants? Privacy and anonymity.

Typically, it is not harm that we need to think about since a researcher does not intentionally go out to cause harm. Rather, it is the risk of harm that you should try to minimize. In order to minimizing the risk of harm you should think about: ▪

Obtaining informed consent from participants.

▪

Protecting the anonymity and confidentiality of participants.

▪

Avoiding deceptive practices when designing your research.

▪

Providing participants with the right to withdraw from your research at any time.

PRINCIPLE TWO: OBTAINING INFORM CONSENT One of the foundations of research ethics is the idea of informed consent. Simply put, informed consent means that participants should understand that (a) they are taking part in research and (b) what the research requires of them. Such information may include the purpose of the research, the methods being used, the possible outcomes of the research, as well as associated demands, discomforts, inconveniences and risks that the participants may face. Whilst is it not Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies


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possible to know exactly what information a potential participant would want to know, you should aim not to leave out any material information; that is, information that you feel would influence whether consent would be granted. Another component of informed consent is the principle that participants should be volunteers, taking part without having been coerced and deceived. Where informed consent cannot be obtained from participants, you must explain why this is the case. You should also be aware that there are instances informed consent is not necessarily needed or needs to be relaxed. PRINCIPLE THREE: PROTECTING ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY Protecting the anonymity and confidentiality of research participants is another practical component of research ethics. After all, participants will typically only be willing to volunteer information, especially information of a private or sensitive nature, if the researcher agrees to hold such information in confidence. Whilst it is possible that research participants may be hurt in some way if the data collection methods used are somehow insensitive, there is perhaps a greater danger that harm can be caused once data has been collected. This occurs when data is not treated confidentially, whether in terms of the storage of data, its analysis, or during the publication process. However, this does not mean that all data collected from research participants needs to be kept confidential or anonymous. It may be possible to disclose the identity and views of individuals at various stages of the research process. Nonetheless, permissions should be sought before such confidential information is disclosed. An alternative is to remove identifiers or provide proxies when writing up. However, such a stripping of identifiable information may not always be possible to anticipate at the outset of your dissertation when thinking about issues of research ethics. This is not only a consideration for dissertations following a qualitative research design, but also a quantitative research design. There are also a wide range of potential legal protections that may affect what research you can and cannot perform, how you must treated the data of research participants, and so forth. In other words, you don’t simply have a duty to protect the data you collect from participants; you may also have a legal responsibility to do so. Since this varies from country-to-country, you should ask your dissertation supervisor or Ethics Committee for advice. PINCIPLE FOUR: AVOIDING DECEPTIVE PRACTICES At first sight, deceptive practices fly in the face of informed consent. After all, how can participants know (a) that they are taking part in research and (b) what the research requires of Copyright © 2021, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies


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them if they are being deceived? This is part of what makes the use of deceptive practices controversial. For this reason, in most circumstances, dissertation research should avoid any kinds of deceptive practices. However, this is not always the case. Deception is sometimes a necessary component of covert research, which can be justified in some

cases. Covert

research reflects

research

where (a) the identity

of

the

observer and/or (b) the purpose of the research is not known to participants. Cases where you may choose to engage in covert research may include instances where: ▪

It is not feasible to let everyone in a particular research setting know what you are doing.

▪

Overt observation or knowledge of the purpose of the research may alter the particular phenomenon that is being studied.

By feasibility, we are not talking about the cost of doing research. Instead, we mean that it is not practically possible to let everyone in a particular research setting know what you are doing. This is most likely to be the case where research involves observation, rather than direct contact with participants, especially in a public or online setting. Clearly, in these cases, where individuals are coming and going, it may simply be impossible to let everyone known what you are doing. You may not be intentionally trying to engage in deceptive practices, but clearly participants are not giving you their informed consent. Where observations or a participants? Knowledge of the true purpose of the research have the potential to alter the particular phenomenon that you are interested in, this is a major concern in terms of the quality of your findings. Therefore, when you think about whether to engage in covert research and possibly deceptive practices, you should think about the extent to which this could be beneficial in your dissertation, not research in general; that is, everything from the research paradigm that guides your dissertation through to the data analysis techniques you choose affect issues of research ethics in your dissertation. PRINCIPLE FIVE: PROVIDING THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW With the exception of those instances of covert observation where is not feasible to let everyone that is being observed know what you are doing, research participants should always have the right to withdraw from the research process. Furthermore, participants should have the right to withdraw at any stage in the research process. When a participant chooses to withdraw from

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the research process, they should not be pressured or coerced in any way to try and stop them from withdrawing. If your supervisor and/or Ethics Committee expect you to complete an Ethics Consent Form, it is likely that you will have to let participants know that they have the right to withdraw at any time. . CONCLUSION Now that you have read these basic principles of research ethics, you may want to understand how the research strategy you have chosen affects your approach to research ethics. You will need to understand the impact of your research strategy on your approach to research ethics when writing up the Research Ethics section of your Research Strategy chapter. REFFERECES S.ARUN (2013), research method in psychology, sociology and education.Pg-26-28 https://www.city.ac.uk/research/ethics/how-to-apply/principles-of-research-ethics. http://dissertation.laerd.com/principles-of-research-ethics.php

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